#the world is amazing

[melyzard]

The World is Amazing, Actually (Part 11 or 12, I lost count)

It's been awhile since I made a post about how fucking rad the world actually is, and amidst all the pandemics and climate change and economic troubles, I felt the need.

So:

Today’s Wild Place (The Earth is An Alien Planet):

The Danakil Depression, Ethiopia:

The Danakil Depression is probably the closest you'll ever be able to come to standing on the surface of Venus (without the crushing atmosphere, of course). Choking sulphuric acid and chlorine gases fill the air, while acid ponds and geysers pepper the landscape. 

- Daisy Dobrijevic, published July 4, 2022

(BTW scientists recently discovered microbes capable of surviving in this toxic, extremely hot environment, which means...well, even if we kick the bucket, life will continue. There's something comforting in knowing that no matter how bad we screw up...life will go on.)

Today’s Incredible Feat of Engineering (look! at what! we made!):

Ouarzazate Solar Power Station in Morocco, which has gone solar in a big way.

(Which means they are making a huge contribution to helping fight toxic pollution, noise pollution, water use, land destruction, and carbon emissions. No really, there are charts. Reducing carbon emissions charts. Reducing irresponsible land use charts. Charts! Graphs! Data samples!)

Today’s Cool Life Form (the rare, the weird, the beautiful):

The Hispaniolan Solenodon.

A very rare, nocturnal, shrew-like creature that is one of the few mammals able to produce venom. Look at him! Look at his snout! He's just a little guy! He will bite you and run away on his back legs! He's rare, and endangered, but not gone! Not gone yet, bitches!

(Bonus: 10 Fun Facts About the Solenodon)

Today’s Bizarre Mystery (no, seriously, wtf?):

The Great Unconformity.

Hey, remember the Grand Canyon? Remember how we can see the passage of time through each layer, going back hundreds of thousands of years?

Did you know that apparently, on this massive record of earth's geological history, there's a chunk of time missing? Science has some hypotheses about how and why this happens (and yes, it's been found in more than one place), but they are really only hypotheses, and no one's really sure what happened to, oh, 1.6 billion years, give or take.

Today’s Act of Humanity (yes, we are worth the effort):

After fleeing a war, Ukrainians rush to help Mississippi tornado victims.

"They made the 16-hour drive south to donate bottled water and volunteer with aid workers, buoyed by the idea that they could help a community facing a similar struggle to theirs.

“We had to leave our home,” Pavliuk told The Washington Post in Ukrainian, in an interview interpreted by Hrebenyk. “And they don’t have a place to go back, either.”"

NEW CATEGORY:

Today's Good News About The Future (No, It's Not Too Late and Anyone Who Says Otherwise is Selling Something):

The Saiga Antelope, a species critical to the continued survival of huge swathes of grassland, that in 2003 was down to 6% of it's population and already extinct in it's natural habitat of China and Ukraine, has rebounded back to almost 2 million strong thanks to conservation efforts.

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[carolinawrenn]

Last night, I went to a lecture about soil chemistry. I'm not a chemist or an environmental scientist, but the speaker was so enthusiastic and passionate that I came away thinking "YEAH! Soil is interesting and important!" When people love something and want to share how wonderful it is, you can't help but love it at least a little bit, too.

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

guys. guuuyyyyyss. i’m finally moving.

[bornwithhornzz]

Just watched the sun set through my bedroom window. - Utterly Mesmerising.

[rossaka]

🎶Hi-ho hi-ho it’s off to work we go🎶

*elephant trumpeting*

View on Twitter

These pictures are killing me

[aideshou]

Oh ya last night…. I saw a cluster of stars.. like a meteor entering and breaking up into our atmosphere… or sm?? No reports until I looked again this morning:

MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) – Viewers from across the Gulf Coast sent in photos and videos after seeing bright streaks in the sky around 10 p.m. Saturday night.

Initially, we believed this could be in relation to the Ursid meteor shower. The Ursid meteor shower occurs annually, and peak viewing is around the 21st and 22nd of December in the Northern Hemisphere. After seeing more footage, there is a higher possibility the bright streak were caused by space debris re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.

[carolinawrenn]

I went river snorkeling for the first time today, and it was so cool. We saw rainbow trout, Eastern and warpaint shiners, hogsuckers, brook trout, smallmouth bass, redhorses, stonerollers, trumpet nest caddis flies, and a Northern watersnake. I’ve been swimming in that river for years and had no idea all of those critters were in there with me.

[destielmemenews]

source 1

source 2

[frayedcobweb]

The travelling thing that blew my mind is that the moon changes direction when you cross the equator.

Always in moon art it's depicted northern hemisphere styles, going from outward points to full, and back to outward points as pictured below

I never liked that because I'm in the southern hemisphere and my moon doesn't do that. What am I supposed to do for my moon phase tattoo, huh? For ages I thought they drew it like that because it looks cooler.

Then I went on a trip and we were on a cruise boat in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. I watched the moon, as is my wont... and fuck me, it went the other way. Logically of course it makes sense from this different perspective, but fuck y'all, you get a different moon?!?

And no one else could care less. No shits were given. The whole ass moon was changing backward and no one cared. I spent my nights watching the moon and rediscovering my sense of awe and wonder.

And for the record my moon goes this way...

[barkloud]

Charcoal and Lemon

Maybe a little forest. Undecided

i had to double check the definition of that wowww

[valentinbelleyh505]

y'all can comment which character that is also a moon that i forgotten 😔

edit: Princess Yue, Melody, Loona, Moony and Lunala are thereeee and i losting some followers and i wanna get 2.000 followers :(

[rocy5]

[chessalein]

What an unbelievable view ♥ How inspiring it must be to see this for real.

Astronaut tweets

[blackkatdraws2]

[⚠️The Amazing Digital Circus SPOILERS] This episode was interesting!

[pennymaykittensworld]

Would you like to date a naughty girl like me ?